Best Beginner Drones of 2018

Drones used to be expensive which limited their appeal to a small group of people. In the last few years, drones have become extremely affordable.

Now any budding pilot can take to the skies and operate their own flying robot. You really can get a lot of fun and features for very little money. You can also dive right in and learn with a higher quality craft with more features.

Beginner drones can be cheap as chips, but they don’t have to be. I include some very affordable drones here, though affordability is not the sole focus. Ease-of-use and fun flying is the main priority.

Top 10 Drones for Beginners

Beginner drones are often cheaper because they offer fewer bells and whistles. Some higher-end drones are also suitable for the novice flyer. I include a few of those in this guide too.

The point of this review page is to highlight the best drones available right now for the complete novice and advanced beginner. Each review here follows a simple and familiar format for easy reference.

Under the name of each drone I introduce the product. I point out the reasons why I think it’s a good buy for beginners. I may also highlight any downsides that I think you should know.

At the end of each review there’s a simple table. I have included three columns. From left to right: useful technical specs, the major pros, and the major cons.

Beginner Drone Comparison Table

Here’s a table of my top 10 beginner drone picks at a glance (cheapest range to most expensive). I’ve covered something for everyone, starting from $32 to just under $1000 and plenty between:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

We specify whether the beginner drone in our guide needs to be registered. Registration is cheap at just $5 and it takes just a couple of minutes to complete. Don’t let drone registration requirements turn you off. The process couldn’t be simpler.

There are things you need to know about any type of drone. This includes safe flying zones, speed, height, registration, and a few other things. Read my article for more: Before You Fly Your Drone.

Piloting consumer drones requires certain skills. The more a drone offers in terms of features, speed, and power, the more experience you’ll need to handle it well and in safety.

Don’t worry; anyone can pilot a drone. It does, however, require some knowledge and practice.

The Beginner's Quadcopter

A beginner’s remote control drone provides a stepping stone to greater things. Drones today offer a lot of fun-packed features and flight modes for you to enjoy.

This guide is for complete and advanced beginners. Whichever category you fall into I suggest you look for a quadcopter, also called a quadrotor. These are stable and reliable helicopters with four rotors built onto an H or X frame.

A quadcopter’s four propellers generate enough lift to carry a camera and a gimbal. A gimbal is a mechanical device that helps to keep your camera steady while taking photos or shooting video.

You can buy quadcopters in either kit form (self-assembly) or ready to fly (RTF) right out of the box. In this beginner’s guide, I keep everything simple by sticking to pre-built and semi-assembled drones.

If you’re a total novice, look over my cheapest, most basic picks. You won’t be able to avoid collisions and crash landings as you practice. Accidents are all par for the course.

An inexpensive UAV can still take a good battering. The most important thing here is the availability of spare parts should you need them. Breaking something is less of a problem when you can replace it.

Key Features of an Beginner Friendly Drone

RC drones today come with so many intelligent features. Some of these are invaluable, whereas others can be a bit gimmicky. As a beginner drone pilot, there are six key features you should be aware of:

Flight time

Speed

Flight range

Return to home

Camera

Controller

You can check each of these features out in my no-nonsense reviews below. I include the first three items in the technical specs section, along with weight, battery type, and charge time.

Let’s take a quick look at these six features and why they matter.

#1 Maximum Flight Time

One thing that upsets the novice is the short flight time of their new drone. It takes a lot of energy to fly these things, and that drains batteries fast. The longer the average flight time the better.

Make sure you always have a spare battery with you. It’s the only way to prolong the fun. Make a note of the recharging times too. Some batteries charge in 45 minutes. Others can take a couple of hours.

TIP: Have a 10 minute break before you take to the skies with a replacement battery, especially with tiny drones. A short break allows them to cool down, and thus helps to prolong their life.

#2 Maximum Flying Speed

Some drones are fast — incredibly fast — but they’re often reserved for racing. There are also speed restrictions. You won’t have to worry about any of these things with beginner drones.

Some drones include ‘follow me‘ technology. In this case you’ll want to make sure the drone speed is enough to keep up and record your actions, i.e. cycling, motorcycling, skiing, and surfing, etc.

I include the max flight speeds in both meters per second, written as m/s, and miles per hour, mph.

#3 Maximum Flight Range

Beginners will want to keep their drones close by. The maximum flight range is the distance between the remote controller (you) and the UAV before it loses the signal.

Some starter drones have short flight distances. This can limit your ability to get cool aerial shots.

#4 Return to Home

If a drone does fly out of range it can still find its way back as long as it has a “Return to Home” feature. This is an invaluable feature. You set up the “home point” using GPS.

This function provides safety as well as convenience. If a drone doesn’t have it—and loses its signal—it’ll eventually fall out of the sky, somewhere. The consequences of that don’t bare thinking about.

It’s always better for beginner pilots to keep their drones close by, where you can see and retrieve them at a moment’s notice. You’ll also want to form the habit of watching for low battery indicators.

#5 Camera

Some drones include an onboard camera. Others don’t, but they may have a mount so that you can add your own camera. Typical mounts allow GoPro cameras and others popular models.

Your first priority is to master your flying skills. It won’t be long before you want to see what your drone sees. Make sure you understand your camera and recording options before you buy anything.

I also include low feature drones for those who only want to gain valuable flying experience.

#6 Controller Options

You can fly most drones using either a hardware controller or with a smartphone or tablet via an app. Operating a UAV with a smartphone makes things really convenient and portable.

A purpose controller typically offers more flying options and a better flying experience overall. But the convenience of flying and controlling your drone from a phone or tablet is something to consider.

Some drones have the option of using both a controller and a mobile device.

The Conclusion

That’s everything you need to know for now. Make sure you’re up to speed with FAA regulations before you take to the skies. And consider a quadcopter as your first drone for the reasons mentioned above.

Be mindful of the key features and any other attribute you may find useful going forward.

Good luck, enjoy the reviews, and happy flying.

Beginner Drones Under $100

The drones in this category might appear a bit toy-like, but don’t be put off. What you have here are some very capable flying robots that won’t break the bank. They will, however, teach you to fly. This is the largest category with five UAVs in total. The prices range from $32 up to around $90.

UDI 818A HD+

This is a fun drone to fly at any level, but the makers built it with the beginner firmly in mind. It has good elasticated plastic blade guards to help protect against those inevitable beginner crashes.

The crash-resistant design stands up to collisions with walls, trees, and other objects, as well as hard landings. It’s a perfect first drone for anyone who wants to learn how to pilot a UAV.

All you do is unpack this drone, charge the battery, and then take to the skies. It’s going to give you a memorable first time flying experience. Seriously, this little UAV has “EASY” written all over it.

You won’t suffer from boredom flying this simple-to-maneuver robot either. You have options to flip it 360 degrees in any direction, take photos, and record video with sound. Let’s look at the little camera.

The UDI 818A HD+ comes with a small 2MP, forward facing camera already attached. The quality of the optics is superb for a drone in this price range. I’d say it’s one of the best in its class.

There’s a decent remote control with two joysticks and a roll button for performing those instant 360˚rolls. There’s also a nice LCD screen that shows your current flight status.

One annoying flaw with this drone is its user manual. For a beginner drone I feel they could have written the guide better. Other than that, there’s not much to gripe about, not at around $90. This is the perfect starter quadcopter.

Hubsan X4 H107 L

The Hubsan X4 H107 L takes second place. At less than 40 bucks, beginner drones don’t get much cheaper than this. The instruction manual that comes with this craft is also very easy to follow.

The X4 flies amazingly well. It’s quick too. The controller has all the basic flight settings you’d expect with no extras to confuse a newbie pilot (controller batteries not included).

The thing that’ll most likely spoil your fun is the short nine minute flying time. I always suggest ordering a spare battery or two. It’s the only way to prolong your fun and get more practice in.

The X4 has warning indicators that let you know when the battery’s getting low. And the transmitter offers a safety feature that warns you when the drone is getting out of range.

This is a great drone to practice piloting skills, but that’s about all. It’s small and light and handles crashes pretty well. It doesn’t come with a camera, though, and nor is there a place to attach one.

It’s a great little drone to practice your flying skills indoors and out, but take heed! It sounds like a large swarm of feisty bees. You may want to make sure you’re home alone for indoor practice 😉

A bonus of the Hubsan X4 is its Advanced Flying Mode. Still, you won’t have to worry about advanced flying in those early days. But it’s useful to have once you’ve perfected your flying skills in Basic Mode.

Unlike the UDI 818A HD+ above, there are no blade guards with the X4. This makes the props a bit vulnerable. Then again, it’s easy to buy replacement parts if you do break something on the craft.

A lot of drone enthusiasts are getting into racing quadcopters these days. The X4 H107 L is the perfect mini quadcopter to develop your speed skills if racing drones interests you.

The low cost and tiny size of this quad will probably result in a fairly short lifespan of its motors. If you want to fly it long after you’ve perfected your skills, well… you can always buy new motors.

Cheerwing Syma X5SW-V3

Compared to the first two picks, the Syma X5SW-V3 has a few extra features. It’s still a great beginner’s drone at an affordable cost. Keep reading to see if these extra characteristics appeal to you.

Note that this drone is not quite ready to fly out of the box. Don’t worry. The assembly process is quick and easy for anyone—even if you’ve never put a drone together before.

Consider this UAV if you want to hone in on aerial photography and videography skills as well as flying. The WIFI-enabled camera sends photos and live video straight to an Android or iPhone.

The FPV (First Person View) lets you see what the camera sees in flight. First you need the app. There’s a handy QR code on the side of the box that you simply scan to download the application.

This drone comes with protective propeller guards. Anything that helps to protect against collisions and crash landings has to be a good thing, especially on a beginner’s craft.

You need a special smartphone holder to attach your mobile device to the transmitter (included). Once fixed, start the WiFi and open the Syma FPV app. That’s about it. You’re now ready to take to the sky.

The X5SW-V3 is still incredibly light albeit much bigger than my earlier picks. There’s a lot more for the wind to get hold of, though. That means it’s not the best flyer in breezy conditions.

This is a nice stable flyer that’s easy to get to grips with in calm conditions. Keep the craft at lower altitudes if you want to fly outdoors in a breeze. This way it’ll be much easier to handle.

Make sure you stay in Low-Speed Mode until you’re more competent. It’s easy to get impatient, but take heed. Flying too fast too soon will only end in collisions and crash landings.

One complaint is the low battery life, so make sure you order a spare. By the way, you’ll get a little extra flight time without the camera attached. It’s something to think about when you’re not shooting.

This is still a worthy quadcopter despite its few flaws. At around $55 you really can’t go wrong.

Tech Specs

Weight: 635 g (1.4 lbs.)

Battery: 3.7V 500 mAh Li-po

Charging time: 90+ min (1.5+ hrs.)

Control range: 50 m (164 ft.)

Max flight time: 7 minutes

Max speed: Not known

The Pros

Good beginner drone

Durable craft

Headless mode

Battery on/off switch

Lightweight

Good for stunts practice

Affordability

The Cons

Short flying time

Short transmission range

Only Android 4.0 and above

Not so good in the wind

Parrot Rolling Spider

The Parrot Rolling Spider is a palm-sized micro quadcopter. It’s actually quite sophisticated despite its simplistic appeal. Unlike many other drones, there’s no traditional remote control with this one.

You need a low energy Bluetooth connection to fly this tiny craft via Parrot’s smartphone app. No beginner should have any trouble flying the Spider at its most basic settings.

New pilots get to enjoy some simple tap-and-fly modes, like tap to takeoff and tap to land. The drone then does as you command it. These automation features give you a stable, obedient, fun-to-fly craft.

There are plenty of more advanced features to explore once you’ve got some flying time behind you. You can, for example, control acceleration, climbing & turning rates, and height limits.

I like this drone because it’s a very capable independent flyer and hoverer. The odd looking snap-on wheels help to protect the spinning props. Propeller protection is always a good newbie feature.

The wheels do more than just guard the blades. They protect furniture and vulnerable objects when flying indoors. They also roll the drone across ceilings and up walls. You have to see it to believe it.

When you don’t need the wheels on, keep them off. Anything you can do to lighten the load will increase your flight time—currently around eight minutes per charge.

The Bluetooth connection affects how the Parrot Rolling Spider performs. The nearer you are to the outer limits of the flight range, the more chance there is of a sluggish experience.

If flying was more predictable this UAV would have been further up the list. The secret here is to keep to within around 20 meters. This way you’ll get a more consistent flying experience.

When you become a proficient flyer there’s plenty of opportunity to raise your game. Moreover, the Rolling Spider is surprisingly fast and acrobatic when you customize its flight modes.

Although this drone is equipped with a downward facing camera, it won’t win you any photography or video awards. It’s better than nothing, but its main purpose is for motion detection, not imagery.

Some may argue that this drone is too easy to fly. Don’t be deterred. Remember, there are plenty of customizable options to challenge you, but first you have to develop your flying skills.

Sky Viper Video Drone (V950HD)

The Sky Viper Video Drone V950HD is another beginner-friendly UAV for anyone aged 12 years and older. It’s quite a fast drone too. But if you’re a budding racer in the making, consider other options.

You will crash as you learn to fly. Believe me; you’ll be grateful for the propeller protection guards. This craft also has a polypropylene body, which adds further to its durability and crash-resistance.

The adjustable sensitivity option gives you control over experience levels. That means you have a versatile UAV that allows you to develop your flying skills past the entry-level.

This is a semi-assembled drone so you have to attach a few parts to the body before you can fly it. It’s quite big too, but that makes it easier to keep an eye on outdoors.

Some reviewers report how this is not so easy to fly at the beginner level. Looking deeper into these gripes, it seems that impatience and a failure to read the instructions is the cause of most complaints.

For example, you’ll want to attach the blade protection guards. You also have to calibrate the Sky Viper Video Drone on a FLAT surface. These are simple things but will cause issue if overlooked.

You get a camera with the Sky Viper Video Drone. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. Then again, for around 83 bucks you have a great UAV to practice your flying and shooting skills. That’s pretty good.

What is impressive about the camera is that it can take 360° panoramic views. You control this with the simple touch of a button. Okay, so the optics may not be astounding but there’s a lot to play with.

The 4GB microSD card (included) saves around 20 minutes of video footage. Upgrade to a 32GB card if you need more storage. There’s a micro USB cable to upload vids and photos to a computer.

Flight time for the Sky Viper is a measly 5-7 minutes. It’s always a good idea to have a spare battery or two with you. Expect around 90 minutes to fully charge the batteries.

A common complaint is about the flight range, advertised at 200 ft. Some complain that you’re lucky to get half that. To be fair, though, flight range depends on factors like battery power level and signal.

Overall, the Sky Viper Video Drone is a good choice for new users or those moving up from toy drones. There’s no doubt that with regular flying this UAV will help you to become a much better pilot.

Tech Specs

Weight: 771 g (1.7 lbs.)

Battery: 650 mAh 3.7V LiPo

Charging time: 90 min (1.5 hr.)

Control range: 200 m (656 ft.)

Max flight time: 7 minutes

Max speed: 9 m/s (20 mph)

The Pros

Intuitive controls

Easy drone to fly

Camera included

Durable design

Responsive RC

Stabilization functions

Size (easy to see)

The Cons

Short battery life

Fairly short flight range

Limited smartphone support

Beginner Drones Under $150

Drones in this price range give you a bit more bang for your buck. The first one is an Amazon #1 Best Seller. The second one is also a high seller with plenty of positive user feedback.

Holy Stone F181 RC

At just over 100 bucks this is yet another affordable drone built from durable elastic plastic. The material’s an important consideration as it helps to protect the craft from all those beginner crashes.

The F181 quadcopter comes with a set of blade guards. Be sure to attach these before you fly. You’ll be grateful for the protection they can provide during a crash.

New users hate the short flight times that plague beginner drones. At around eight minutes the F181 is no exception. The good news is this drone comes with a bonus battery. That’s unusual.

Drones can get quite hot with continuous flying. It’s a good idea to allow 10 minutes of cooling down time before you take off with a replacement battery. This helps to prolong the life of the motors.

The Holy Stone F181 also comes equipped with a 2MP detachable camera. Leave the camera off until you’ve mastered flying the drone. The reduced weight will give you a bit more flight time as well.

The camera resolution is 1280×720. You can take still photos and record reasonable video. The image quality is nothing to get excited about. Still, it’s more than acceptable for a drone at this price.

What sets the Holy Stone F181 apart from some of the cheaper models is the steady performance and great design. It’s easy to fly, and has a bunch of great extras like the camera and headless mode.

It’s almost impossible to lose the F181. This is thanks to its headless security and key return features. All you do is flick a button to bring the craft back if it gets out of view or out of range.

These safety features are important considering there’s no GPS. All things considered, this drone is a step up from the cheaper micro options. It’s a great beginner craft for both teenagers and adults. This is the one for you if you are looking for a starter drone with more features than a basic model.

Ionic Stratus

The Ionic Stratus medium-sized drone is feature-packed. It’s also a great choice for advanced beginners. It doesn’t have a camera but it does have a camera mount.

What we have here is a great beginner UAV thanks to its light weight and simple controls. It comes with some neat flight features too, some of which you won’t explore until you gain more experience.

The frame of the Ionic Stratus is sturdy and shock resistant. The overall build is solid, and the propeller guards seem durable. The flimsy landing gear is a bit of a letdown, though, otherwise it’s all good.

If you do break something—and you might as a newbie pilot—it’s not the end of the world. You can find replacement parts easily enough online. They’re inexpensive too.

Some beginner drones don’t include cameras nor do they have the option to attach one. Others come with onboard or detachable cameras of average quality. The Ionic Stratus only has a camera mount.

This camera mount lets you fix any GoPro Hero to the front of the craft. Now you have an affordable drone that’s capable of taking professional looking still photographs and HD video.

There’s been some negative feedback about the inadequate shock mount. Apparently, it can move and interfere with the GoPro. I’ve noticed how some users fix a simple wedge to keep the camera steadier.

The intuitive remote control gives you a flight range of around 150m (492 ft.) This tends to be more than enough for beginners. I couldn’t find anything difficult about any of the basic controls.

The pre-programmed flight modes present pilots with lots of fun while keeping the flying experience simple. More experienced flyers can customize the throttle to make things more interesting.

I understand that not every entry-level user wants a craft of this size, with this many features, and the need to buy a third-party camera. That’s why there’s a range of beginner drones on this review page.

But then there are those who want an inexpensive, customizable, fast flying drone with semiprofessional capabilities. For them, the Ionic Stratus Drone delivers on all those fronts.

Tech Specs

Weight: 1724 g (3.8 lbs.)

Battery: 7.4V 1200mAh Li-Po

Charging time: 150 min (2.5 hrs.)

Control range: 150m (492 ft.)

Max flight time: 8 – 10 minutes

Max speed: Not known, but quick

The Pros

Great beginner drone

Compatible with GoPro cameras

Fun and easy to fly

Headless mode

Reliable landing gear

Good build/durable

Propeller guard

Value for money

Smart design

The Cons

Poor shock mount

Long charging time

May prove too fast for some learner pilots

Short flight time

Beginner Drones Under $500

I hope you enjoyed reading the seven affordable starter drone reviews above. Now it’s time to include a couple of great beginner choices for under $500. Both models are equally priced and equally capable.

The drone makers target these competent flying robots at the more experienced enthusiasts. They’re good for that purpose. But they’re also user-friendly and have some great beginner flying modes.

If you’re willing to spend the money, and don’t want to go down the stepping-stone route, consider the two choices here. They’ll serve you well as a tool for learning, and later as a more advanced craft.

DJI Phantom 3

You’re here because you’re ready to move away from the more basic drones. Either that or you want a higher quality craft to learn with. Beginner drones don’t have to be cheap but they must handle easy.

The DJI Phantom 3 Standard is nothing less than awesome. It’s a breeze to fly too. This is a consumer drone that offers lots of extra stuff that you just won’t find with the less expensive models.

The controller for this drone is much easier for the novice than DJI’s PRO and ADVANCED models. You don’t get all those buttons on the shoulder that could easily overwhelm a new flyer.

The camera is built-in and shoots video in 2.7K. To put that into some perspective, this gives you image quality that’s around three times clearer than the picture on an HDTV.

There are better cameras, but they come at a higher cost. For most people, though, the quality offered by the DJI Phantom 3 Standard’s optics is clean and accurate.

The main reason to list this drone is not for its filming and photography capabilities. It’s here because it’s a beautiful flyer and a great UAV to learn with.

One of the most notable benefits of a drone in this category is the amazing battery life. Up till now we’ve seen 7-8 minutes on average. This beaut gives you a max flight time of 25 minutes per charge.

Once you’ve taken to the skies a few times you’ll become very comfortable with this drone. It’s a consistent and super-stable flyer that doesn’t have any bad glitches or nasty surprises.

There’s a follow-me option too. This is fast becoming a much sought after feature. The drone simply films your activities without you having to worry about flying the craft.

The GPS and compass features make sure your drone never gets lost. There’s a red flashing light that tells you the signal is weak if it starts to fly out of range. But what if you’re not looking?

There’s also a warning beep to notify you when the craft is almost out of range. But what if you don’t hear it? No problem—the drone automatically turns round and heads home.

There are so many useful and failsafe auto fly features to the Phantom 3 Standard. It really is child’s play. You may even reach a point where you become bored with the drone’s intelligence.

When you’re an expert flyer you can leave the basic flying modes and get more creative. You can start to film or take stunning aerial photographs. It won’t take long to lose that novice pilot status either.

I love this as a beginner drone because it’s so stable. You don’t have to worry about flying too high, too far, or losing sight of it. And you can always take back manual controls whenever you want to.

This is a great drone for the advanced beginner. Even so, don’t try to fly it without reading the instruction guide end to end. Pay particular attention to the manual controls.

There are a few complaints that the manual doesn’t cover everything. It’s not the end of the world. There are plenty of YouTube vids and drone communities if you get stuck with anything.

Some complain about the limited flight distance compared to other crafts in this price range. Well, I’m endorsing this primarily as a beginner drone, 1000m is plenty of range for most novice pilots.

There’s a lot more to report on the DJI Phantom 3 Standard than I’ve written here, but that’s for you to explore later. After all, the purpose of this guide is to highlight features for entry level users.

Tech Specs

Weight: 1216 g (2.7 lbs.)

Battery: 15.2v, 4,480mAh

Charging time: 60+ min (1+ hr.)

Control range: 1000 m (3281 ft.)

Max flight time: 25 minutes

Max speed: 16 m/s (36 mph)

The Pros

Excellent value for money

Very easy for beginners to fly

Solid build quality

Feature-rich app

Intelligent flight modes

HD live video feed

Good flight time

The Cons

Limited range for price

Holder doesn’t support iPad

Extra batteries expensive

Only includes 8 GB SD card

Parrot Bebop 2

The Parrot BeBop 2 is great drone for beginners through to advanced flyers. The battery lasts for an impressive 25 minutes in ideal conditions. This awards new pilots with lots of valuable flying time.

You have to attach a few parts when you take it out of the box. Don’t worry; the assembly is straightforward for anyone at any level. The props are color-coded and simply twist into position.

The BeBop 2 doesn’t come with its own controller. You have to fly it using your smartphone and the flight app. You may want to skip this review or pay the extra if you prefer a physical controller.

You can always invest in a bundle. This typically includes an FPV kit. It has the Parrot Skycontroller 2 and a set of cockpit glasses for that ultimate flying experience. These are not beginner tools, though.

Compared to the early version, the new BeBop 2 has an improved camera and is a stronger craft. It’s wind-resistant too. This is a particularly useful feature if you live in a breezy part of the country.

The integrated camera has a 180° fisheye lens. It takes 14MP photos and shoots full HD 1080p video. Having a built-in camera is a nice feature for beginners because it’s less to think about.

This really is a fun drone to fly. It’ll surely help to improve your piloting skills in no time. It looks more like an aerodynamic airplane and less like a space craft, though I suppose looks are subjective.

The follow-you feature means the drone flies itself as it films you, or whatever you’ve got it to track. I have come across a few complaints where users say it’s occasionally slow to respond.

The BeBop 2 is light and luggable. It would be even more portable if they gave it retractable legs. It’s still easy to put into a bag though, despite the fixed design.

This is not a racing drone but it’s quite nippy at around 37 mph with horizontal flying. The top speed doesn’t seem to affect image quality either. The wind-resistance feature helps with this too.

You have to pay to unlock in-app to access all the flight features. I don’t like this, but it’s not a cost issue. It’s because these are things that many other drone manufacturers include as standard.

Overall, the Bebop 2 is a superb choice of beginner drone. It’s easy to fly, it’s portable, and it’s safer than the original. It’s not without a few faults (see cons table below), but then no drone is perfect.

Tech Specs

Weight: 500g (1.1 lb.)

Battery: 2700 mAh battery

Charging time: 55 minutes

Control range: 300 m (984 ft.)

Max flight time: 24 Minutes

Max speed: 16 m/s (36 mph)

The Pros

Great beginner drone

Easily portable

Fast and stable

Durable design

Straightforward controls

Autonomous features

Powerful motors

Affordable price

The Cons

Limited range with smartphone/tablet

Limited 8GB memory

Have to pay a fee to unlock the in-app

Beginner Drones Under $1000

Most beginner drone pilots don’t want to spend a small fortune learning to fly. But this guide wouldn’t be complete without offering something for those who don’t mind paying the extra.

My single pick in this category is a PRO model that retails for a little under 1000 bucks. The typical buyer is the prosumer, but there’re also plenty of basic flying features for entry level users.

DJI Mavic Pro

A few beginners won’t mind spending $1000 on their first drone. My one pick in this higher priced category has to be the DJI Mavic Pro (consider the ‘Fly More Bundle’ for an even better deal).

New pilots want to get as much flying time in as possible. Well, the ‘Fly More Bundle‘ gives you two extra batteries and a charging hub. There’re more goodies, but the batteries alone are worth the extra.

The small, high-quality Mavic Pro controller is awesome. It does a lot despite its simple design. It feels as good as it looks too. You just attach your phone or tablet to the controller and you’re good to go.

It won’t take you long to figure out the DJI GO App. As a new flyer, and especially considering the price of the drone, you may want to find a nice wide open space for your maiden flight.

DJI Mavic Pro is very easy to fly despite its high quality and sophistication. My advice is to stay well away from the Sport Mode until you’re comfortable and familiar with all the drone’s basic features.

The makers have designed the Beginner Mode especially for novice pilots. It has restrictions on how high and how far you can fly. This means you don’t have to worry about losing sight or control.

Once comfortable with Beginner Mode, familiarize yourself with Tripod Mode. Although this drone flies well indoors, my advice is to learn outside first—in windless conditions. After that, the sky’s the limit.

Let’s not forget the portability of the Mavic Pro. This is thanks to its clever retractable legs. With the drone and phone in your bag, and a fully-charged battery, you’re always ready to take to the sky.

This is a wonderful drone to pilot, but it’s more than just a capable flyer. It’s also an excellent aerial camera. These impressive optics and recording capabilities contribute to the high price tag.

The camera offers a sharp 4K/24 fps imaging system. It can shoot JPG photos and DNG RAW. Heck, there’s even an option for live streaming to YouTube and Facebook if that’s your thing.

Ideally, the DJI Mavic Pro is a prosumer level UAV. It still works well as a beginner drone for those who don’t want to step-stone through the cheaper models on their way to better things.

Some of the more novice-friendly features include the Beginner Mode, Obstacle Avoidance, and the Return to Home feature, but there’s so much more to explore.

As this is a beginner’s review, I won’t complicate things by looking into the DJI Mavic Pro’s full range of impressive capabilities. Just know that there’s a lot to marvel at once you’ve learned to fly.

At the time of writing, the Mavic Pro is perhaps one of the best small sized drone performers in its class. And its numerous smart features make it one of the top quadcopters on the market today.

As a new flyer, you’ll only run into problems if you become impatient and try to run before you can walk. Don’t attempt to master the more complex features before you’ve had time to grasp the basics.

Tech Specs

Weight: 735g (1.6 lbs.)

Battery: 2970mAh

Charging time: 60+ minutes

Control range: 4.3 mile (7 km)

Max flight time: 27 minutes

Max speed: 18 m/s (40 mph)

The Pros

Great beginner drone

Small and foldable

Long flight time

Quiet for a UAV

Includes safety features

Autonomous features

Fly by phone or over WiFi

The Cons

Narrow field of view (FOV)

Doesn’t launch well from grass

Lots of features (could overwhelm some beginners)

Closing Thoughts

The rapidly evolving beginner’s drone market means there are new models coming out on a fairly regular basis. My 10 picks in this guide give you the most sought after drones available right now.

As and when better models arrive, I’ll update this page. Please check back regularly.
Thank you for reading, and happy flying.

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Joseph Flynt

I love diving into the latest and greatest in emerging technologies and seeing what they can do. I enjoy running when I'm not thinking about tech.